6/26/2006 @ 12:00PM

Leadership In The Wild

Primal Quest is not just a race. It’s one of the most difficult athletic events in the world. For ten sleep-deprived days, four-person teams of highly skilled athletes hike, kayak, rock climb and mountain bike over hundreds of miles of terrain. The racers snatch minutes of sleep at a time, stopping at checkpoints occasionally to fix their equipment or replenish supplies. About half of the participating teams don’t even finish the race. Fatalities are rare, but they do occur.

This makes Primal Quest a data goldmine for Daniel Wilson, a researcher with Project Zero, a program in Harvard’s education school that studies how people learn, think and create. Since 2002, Primal Quest has sent videographers along with the racers at various points on the trail. Wilson has watched hundreds of hours of footage, analyzing how teams behave in high-stress situations.

The questions he’s asking have far-reaching implications for business leaders, who often work in teams to make decisions under pressure. Primal Quest, founded in 2001 by
Seagate Technology
CEO
Bill
Watkins
Bill Watkins
, may be an athletic event, but success in the race depends as much on emotional maturity and communication skills as physical fitness. Athletes hit their prime in their 40s, and the best teams have worked together for years.

“It’s very, very similar to business,” says Ian Adamson, one of the best racers in the world, who worked for a pacemaker manufacturer for ten years before launching his own motivational speaking and event management firm. “If you look at CEOs of large companies, they have extraordinary communication skills.”

While other researchers have studied team dynamics in high-pressure situations, most relied on interviews after stressful events such as war or emergency-room surgery. Few have had access to such an intimate, real-time view into team dynamics during a life-or-death event.

Adventure racing can’t be compared to war, but the stakes are high. In 2004, the year that Wilson is studying, racer Nigel Aylott was killed by a falling boulder on the third day of the competition. This year’s race, which began Sunday, June 25, will be even harder. Primal Quest CEO Rich Brazeau expects only a third of the teams to finish.

It’s clear from the footage why some teams succeed and others struggle. Wilson only studied teams that completed the race, but even among finishers the differences are stark. On the top squads, every team member participates in decision-making, and everyone takes a leadership role at some point in the race. On the lower-performing teams, by contrast, one person often dominates discussions. “It’s very, very clear in the interaction patterns how these top teams are so successful,” Wilson says.

The difference was obvious on the race’s second day, when many of the teams got lost. Team Kool n’ Fit huddled around the map, struggling against fatigue and frustration. Two team members talked, but no one was really communicating. “So we’re heading west,” one said. “Here’s the deal,” said the other, gripping the map and ignoring his teammate. “If we head west,” the first man repeated. The other interrupted: “If we can get to a peak…”

Eventually, the teammate holding the map physically separated himself from the group, denying the others the chance to help navigate. The other two teammates finally just picked a direction and walked away, forcing their teammates to follow. Kool n’ Fit ultimately came in 40th out of 44 finishers.

By contrast, Adamson and his team–which is sponsored by
Nike
and ultimately tied for first place–were still energized 30 hours into the race, even though they were lost as well. One team member, Michael Tobin, put his arms around two others as they all peered at the map. These physical details are important, Wilson says, because they keep the team focused and working together. All four teammates participated in the conversation, asking questions, sharing information and proposing ideas. Whenever one person spoke, someone else acknowledged it.

Many adventure racers assume that Adamson’s charismatic leadership is the key to Nike’s success. In fact, when Wilson shows his students a video clip of Nike, they struggle to identify the team’s leader. Teammates Danielle Ballengee, Mike Kloser and Tobin all share the role. A charismatic leader can actually hurt an adventure racing team, Adamson says, by convincing his teammates to do something they don’t want to do.

Of course, consensus doesn’t always work in an office setting. In high-pressure situations, however, multiple people often need to assume leadership roles. If there’s only one leader, he or she is bound to get tired, says Brazeau, Primal Quest’s CEO, who also participates in adventure races.

During one race, a 98-pound woman on Brazeau’s team carried all the mandatory gear up a mountain while her large, male teammates struggled. “She was the strongest one for a time,” says Brazeau, who worked in sales and marketing for a tech company before taking up adventure racing in 1997. “Everyone at some point is going to have some real great moments and some real miserable moments. If you’re feeling good, you need to take more of the load.”

The lessons learned during races have helped Brazeau and Adamson navigate the more mundane parts of their jobs. Brazeau says he’s more open to hearing and trying new ideas, even if they don’t seem promising. Adamson “closes the loop” during meetings, to make sure others’ needs and ideas are acknowledged. “I see communication skills as the lubricant that keeps everything running smoothly,” Adamson says. That’s true on the trail–and in today’s cutthroat business world.